Eyeball platter and a beer with the Old Man

Day Five Pamplona rest day

We had a scheduled rest day in Pamlona, which was very welcome. We got up around 7.30am which is our latest start since we arrived.

We started our outing by visiting Decathalon and a few other shops, so I could pick up some bike shorts. The weather has been much warmer than what I packed for and I really wanted a short/cool option for the evenings that wasn't my hiking shorts, as peak temperature time is around 5pm. On our travels we visited the running of the bulls statue, and looked around the outside of the bull ring.

Next we went to the Catedral Metropolitana de Santa Maria La Real, which was a real highlight (see what I did there), with beautiful gothic architecture and ornate gold altars.

After the Catedral we headed to Jardines de la Taconera for a picnic lunch. This garden has a huge empty moat that is home to assorted free running poultry, as well as deer.

We met up with Pat and Gina, then did a short tour of the town hall, which was being decorated for the King and Queen's visit tomorrow.

Next we all headed to Bar Gaucho for pintxos, what an experience! After that we walked through the Plaza Consistorial and happened upon some live music with many locals participating in an impromptu basque group/line dance.

We stopped briefly at Cafe Iruna, an old haunt of Ernest Hemingway's before saying goodbye to Pat and Gina.

Our accommodation at the Pamplona apartment costed $36 euro per person per night.